Working in the house these last few days hasn't been fun at all. I hate housework, but the rains kept us out of the garden until today and I had to get started on my kitchen. Jeff cooks but I'm not very good at cleaning up after. In fact, I don't do it. I save it up and do it when we run out of clean (you name it).
It's been great listening to the chicks talk to themselves, though. I swear one of them is a cuckoo by its voice - it warbles like a song bird. And we would have missed out on this if we hadn't had DirecTV turned off. Life without television? Yes, it's possible, though I miss our weather man.
How to Plant Tomatoes
Today, however, was a great day to be in the garden. Highs: low 80s. Humidity: 88%. Ahhhhh, planting tomatoes. Can anything be more satisfying (and exhausting)?
First you dig a hole. Make it almost as deep as the plant is tall, and at least as big around as the foliage. Post hole diggers work great:
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Then you sprinkle some agricultural lime in the bottom:
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Then you heartlessly pinch the lower branches off the plants and bury the babies up to their foliage in compost or, in our case, composted steer manure:
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There appears to be a trend to plant them sideways (called "trench planting"). That's too shallow - don't do it. Anyway, then you make a cage and cage them.
Jeff is bending cattle wire around a dryer drum (it's the perfect diameter). He then ties the wire into circles and voila! A cage is born. These will last us several years:
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Then stake the cages. Repeat 99 times until you have all 100 tomato plants out. Urgh.
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Really, though - is there anything more satisfying than planting tomatoes? Yep. That would be planting melons. First you dig a hole...
All of us gardeners and farmers down here in the South are way late getting things into the ground. Thanks to the rains, darn it. Of course last year I was complaining of the heat and drought so I guess I should be happy, especially since the irrigation hoses haven't been run yet. Note to self: get the hoses out and check them for tears, holes, etc.
Dad: "I see you watered your plants."
Me: (No, Jeff and God did, but OK.) "Yep."
Dad: "Good. They were looking pretty awful."
Me: "No they weren't! Jeff watered them the day before it rained, Dad."
Dad: "Huh."
The commodities farmers worked literally until the downpours started; their giant tractors with their giant implements stand idle in the middle of swampy fields, waiting for the earth to dry enough to continue disking, harrowing or planting.
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In that respect we're lucky - most of the tilling is done. Now it's handwork for us, and my bare feet sinking into the ground don't leave much of an impression. Except for the dirt under my toenails, LOL!
How the Day Really Went
Note: We didn't get tomatoes planted. I got some eggplant in instead. And now - What Actually Happened on Saturday, May 25th, 2013::::::>
Busted. Now my readers know that sometimes the post is written in anticipation of the day. That's because I'm a lot more tired at 4:30 p.m. than at 4:30 a.m.!
Today didn't turn out like we'd planned, obviously. No tomatoes or melons were interred, er, planted today. I did get 2 rows of beans and a row of eggplant in, but the rest of the day went to hell in a handbasket.
Oh, well. That's Life. Get over it and get on with it.
If you're been reading these posts you'll know we adopted another miniature horse last weekend. Today the little bastard was caught red-hoofed - literally pulling the fence down with one foot while he stretched his stocky little neck over it to nibble. "Just like a damned cow!" I thought.
What had alerted me was the screeching sound of fence staples pulling out of a wooden fence post.
The fence didn't actually let go (and upon reflection, I don't think he could have taken it down at all), but I flipped out. Poor Jeff hadn't finished his second cup of coffee yet, and I was in the door yelling.
He spent the rest of the day working on the horse pen fence. I helped, after figuring out that he wanted my help. I kin bee a littllle slo somtimes.
The fence is bowed at the top, but nowhere near destroyed:
Here's Jeff putting in stiffeners, and below is the finished product. Yes, the turnout shed needs some more paint (sigh).
Looks good, right? Not quite. I didn't have the camera on me, but as we were putting the stiffeners in Boo shoved the bottom of the fence out to reach that little bit of grass along the edge.
Those of you who own livestock are yawning, I know. This is de rigeur for grazers - the grass is always greener (and more plentiful) on the other side.
I freaked because if Boo got out, Dad would never let me forget it. He's (legitimately) concerned that one of the horses will get out, get in the road, get hit, and then he will get sued. It happened to one of our neighbors.
Ah, well. We've done the best we can. If he gets out it's the electric fence for them.
Planting Eggplant Starts
I'm using the bulb planter this year to put in the eggplant and pepper starts. They're still small enough. A post hole digger is hard on the hands! Here's a flat of eggplant, ready to go in the ground and the partial row I've already done:
Bulb planter in the ground:
We have a hole!
Yep, that's me. Knee pads come in really handy! And - you see that shirt? It's a man's dress shirt, 100% cotton, thinnest I can find. Usually it hangs loosely down to my knees to keep me cool, but kneeling I have to tie it up. The point is I get those shirts at thrift stores and they really do work for keeping me cool. I just have to put on sunscreen under the shirt.
So, that's the day that didn't work out. Maybe tomorrow we'll get those tomatoes and melons planted.
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